It's not for me to know
by Tony Branston
Summary: An Eddie meets Maria oneshot. Please read and review.


**_I wrote this for the Silent Hill FanFiction Archive, where I've been cross-posting my other oneshots. I just have to say that I feel that Eddie seems to be the most sad case of all the SH2 characters, by merits of his sheer lack of redeemable characters, and someone really ought to write some sort of aftermath story for him._**

**_I also give the obligatory disclaimer of not owning any creative properties related to Konami's Silent Hill media franchise. _**

* * *

This had been a very long day for Maria. After Ernest reminded her of what she was supposed to be doing. she started work getting to know that Angela chick who saw her as her mother. The woman herself was harmless; she had killed her father, but it was only after a long period of abuse as well as in immediate self-defense. She had already been punished enough. The task that lay ahead was to try to stir her will to live and reduce her dependence on her mother.

And then there was James, a less innocent murderer. She had been tasked with reliving him of a number of illusions. First and foremost, she needed to make him understand that not only had his wife not been dead for three years, but he had been the reason she had died in the first place. Then there was the whole issue of clearing out all his feelings towards his late spouse, and making him realize that in order to kill his "Mary" he needed to have hated her. So far, though, nothing seemed to be getting through his head.

Actually, it seemed kind of nice to get a break away from him to deal with the second guy who had arrived that day. Sure, dying was rather unpleasant, but she was getting used to it. She had already bought the farm twice that day; first when Angela's tormentor ran her down while the two of them tried to escape Blue Creek Apartments, and just now when James's tormentor skewered her in Brookhaven's basement.

And now, Maria found herself regaining consciousness on hard pavement, her sensuous corporeal body restored once more. This time around her skirt and skimpy sweater had been substituted for a pair of ripped skinny jeans and a simple t-shirt. For the third time that day, she found herself being awakened by the chill of the foggy town, and she lifted herself to her feet, on the lookout for any monsters. It would be pretty bloody embarrassing to get topped before she even met this "Eddie" guy.

The heavy footsteps running into the area now, however, assured her that her last patient of the day was coming.

In all areas except total body mass, "Eddie" wasn't much of a spectacle. His massive gut was the first thing that Maria noticed, bulging under his blue and grey polo shirt. As he put his hands on his uncovered knees and tried to get his breath back, Maria began to scan the face sticking out from under his short blonde hair and backwards baseball cap. There seemed to be something vaguely unsettling in his deep-set snake-like eyes, but the most dangerous thing about him seemed to be the scent of vomit he gave off. Even that revolver stuck in his belt was offset by the overall childish appearance.

That final thought was foremost in her mind as she ran up to him and asked, as kindly and maternally as possible, "Are you ok? What happened to you?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine" he groaned out. "Lady…what the fuck is wrong with this town?"

"I don't know. I just woke up here…I have no idea what's going on. My name's Maria."

Another groan later, Eddie gave her his name. It was actually a real relief to her; twice today she had damn nearly blown her cover by accidentally addressing her subjects by their names before they actually told her. "Look," he continued, "we need to get inside somewhere fast. You think this place is unlocked?"

Maria looked behind her and saw the Silent Hill Historical Society. Walking to the front door, she commented "only one way to find out" as she discovered that, indeed, it wasn't locked. What James was going to do with the key he was being led to, she had no idea.

Until Eddie locked the door behind them as they entered. "There's some sick shit out there. You seen those giant dogs running around the place?"

Actually, Maria hadn't. "You afraid of dogs?" she asked Eddie.

"Hell no!" he said, almost defensively, "No fucking dog is going to scare me! No fucking way…"

Well, there was plenty of material to work with here as she began her rudimentary psychoanalysis. All she needed now was to find a calming environment where Eddie would probably be in his element. Without thinking twice, she asked "Hey, Eddie, I'm really hungry. You know if there's any food around here?"

"Well, I did have a pizza, but I…uh…left it at the bowling alley. I don't think it's safe to go back." Maria wasn't sure, but he sounded like he was lying. "Hey, I heard that there was a museum cafeteria somewhere down here. You wanna try to find it?"

"Sure." Perhaps she might get an opportunity to take a look at this dog monster that was chasing this guy on the way.

* * *

For all intents and purposes, the trip to the cafeteria was a disaster. The place had begun to fall apart, and all the while there was a constant barking noise in the distance. And every two minutes Eddie would stop to ask Maria if she was hearing the sound of someone laughing. Maria racked it all up to paranoia until that hyena thing jumped them outside the dining room. Eddie was able to dispatch it, but he was still pretty shaken by the whole experience. 

Maria began to tread carefully, putting down the health drink she was sipping to begin her questioning. "I can't wait to get out of here. There's so much I want to do with my life. You got anyone special where you come from?"

"Nyaa," he began, "it's not like I'd wanna be with any of the girls I know anyway."

"Let me guess, a pack of beotches?"

"I just don't understand it," he continued, almost whining it out, "why does everyone just have to be so damn _mean_? What the hell is wrong with everyone? Can't they understand what it's like to be on the wrong end of all their shit? Why can't they feel what it's like to hurt…like I do?" Softly, he added, "That's all I really wanted them to know. Now they're all after me…"

Maria prepared herself to step into troubled waters. "Can you tell me…why? What did you do?"

"That bitch, she always came after me…Tommy…poisoned her against me! He fucking trained her to do it!"

A broken heart. It looked like she was on the right track. "What did she do to you?"

"What HE did to me! He told Mira to bite me in the ass and make off with my pants! Those shits don't care about how anyone else feels! They just love a cheap laugh."

Bitch…fear of dogs…dog monsters…Maria started feeling pretty stupid as she realized she missed the message. "My God…"

"That's why I did it! Somebody needed to teach him a lesson. I took this gun, and killed that fucking bitch of his! See what he thought when he saw his friend going through some of what I've been through!"

Perhaps she was acting recklessly, but Maria was too distracted by Eddie's tale to stop now. "What did he do?"

"He just didn't get it! That's why I had to bring it home to him!"

"You killed him?"

"Fuck no! I wanted him to learn his lesson! I shot him in his knee, magnum round! It was fucking bending backwards! He's going to have years to think about it every time he tries to walk!"

As Maria contemplated her next move, Eddie spoke up again. "Why can't anyone understand me? Even that little girl, Laura! And that other guy in the apartments! They all just laughed at me! What the hell was wrong with them?"

"I saw Laura at the hospital. Eddie, she's just a kid. She doesn't understand what it's like. Try to understand, please."

"No…she's the one who needed to understand…but she just can't. No one can! They're all the same! They'll never get any better! That's why I did it! That's why I had to kill them!"

Okay, Laura was alive; he couldn't have been able to kill her in the time she last saw her, but the thought that he would want to chilled her. "You…killed a child? Eddie? Do you know what you're talking about?"

"Don't you get it? They're all psychos! Someone had to do it sooner or later!"

Without realizing it, Maria proceeded to sign her own death warrant with the comment "Eddie! What the fuck are you talking about? That's…evil!"

Eddie froze in front of her. "Evil…you're one of them too! You're just like all the others!"

"Fuck you Maria!" Eddie shouted as he promptly put his gun up to Maria's forehead and fired.

Maria felt the life force drain from her body as her essence slowly slipped backed into the town. She could see her old body decay rapidly, until it became practically impossible to tell it was even a female anymore.

Then James arrived, and she watched Eddie attempt to explain what he had done. This guy was completely out of it; he even referred to her as being a guy.

Then she woke up again, back in her stripper attire and lying on a simple bed. She faced two doors; one was locked and the other was blocked by iron bars. She was trapped, and judging by her current state she wasn't going to be getting near that Eddie guy soon anyway.

It seemed sad, though. That was one fucked up son of a bitch, and the thought of being unable to help him was something more upsetting than anything she had seen so far.

_Be careful buddy_, she thought, _I'll come for you as soon as I can._


End file.
